His Welfare is of My Concern
by Gangsta Videl
Summary: Jakotsu's latest kill weighs heavily on Bankotsu's mind, but he doesn't know why. Once he figures it out, of course, it's all a different story.


**His Welfare is of My Concern**

A/N: The title comes from Rufus Wainwright's "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." You'd love it if you heard it, I promise. This adorable little piece was written for my Bob-chan with love.

Disclaimer: Sue me if you think I own anything. Chances are, though, that if you don't remember this happening in the series? I don't own it.

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**His Welfare is of My Concern**

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Two travelers were staggering along alone on an isolated, dusty road. Both held their swords with pride, the one ahead of the other looking much more serious than his companion. For it was the second one, the one with his dark hair pulled up, that was making all the racket as the two continued to carry on.

"Mm," he said, "did you _see_ that last one?"

The reply: "Yes, Jakotsu."

"He was such a good bleeder.. Ooh, did you hear him scream?"

"Yes, Jakotsu."

"So beautiful," he murmured. There was a wicked smile on his painted lips. "But such a terrible waste, wouldn't you say, Brother?"

"_Yes, Jakotsu_."

Jakotsu, the second male, frowned at the harsh tone. It was probably true that he had been pestering Bankotsu by retelling the story of his latest kill, but that wasn't anything new. The man had been tall, with long, dark hair, and he hadn't even begun to scream until he, Jakotsu, began the killing stroke. Well, he called it a stroke---that just sounded more romantic---but really, he'd begun to peel away the flesh to reveal the man's heart, and it was very likely that he had hit a few nerves.

_Literally_, of course.

His friend and leader, however, hadn't even turned around. The braided warrior walked along stiffly, and that confused his companion all the more. Normally those kills didn't bother Bankotsu---and he'd never quite acted like this before, either.

Jakotsu thought for a while as they walked, his face pulled into an odd look of concentration. What had made this day so different that it had affected Bankotsu so much?

"Mou," he let out with after awhile. He was, in a word, _frustrated_.

Bankotsu, however, glanced back over his shoulder, face revealing his confusion. Behind him, Jakotsu stood pouting, arms folded over his chest, only a short distance away but also quite motionless.

His eyebrow quirked, and Bankotsu stopped as well. He swung his great sword off his shoulder as he turned to face his companion. "Something wrong, Jakotsu?"

The other man blinked and stared, looking up. He'd been jolted right out of his concentration---though it most certainly wasn't the first time for _that._ "Brother?" he began, but Bankotsu only frowned.

_"Jakotsu_

The other male pouted. "Mou, Bankotsu... About that man back there... "

Bankotsu's expression changed into something unreadable and he turned away. Jakotsu opened his mouth to speak, but the other man began before he could ever start.

"Did you not notice it, Jakotsu?"

"Notice?" Jakotsu answered with a question of his own.

Bankotsu was quiet for a long time. Jakotsu began to wonder if the other male ever intended to clarify on his previous comment. He certainly was acting very strangely, and Jakotsu wished he could understand why. Bankotsu wasn't even facing him---but at last, he slowly began to speak.

"So it never occured to you... ?"

It didn't really seem to be a question. Jakotsu's face scrunched up in frustration, and he took a deep breath, stomping one sandal'd foot down. "Mou, what do you _mean,_ Brother?"

Just as slowly as before, Bankotsu looked back. The man in pink was taken back to see the dark look in the other man's eyes and what could have easily been mistaken for the shimmer of threatening tears.

Jakotsu's eyes widened. His mouth opened to defend himself---that beautiful man would have looked down upon him and scorned him, he just knew it, so he had given him a beautiful death---that fine figure of a man who, with his admirable nature, had commanded that sort of respect. With his reasoning, Jakotsu couldn't see what Banktosu was going on about. It was just like any other kill he'd made before, wasn't it? He had just been a regular man, like any other with thick, dark---

Now Jakotsu froze once more. That man had had a thick, dark braid, hadn't he? Not to mention those bright, angry eyes---and his face and forehead had been splattered with enough mud that...

"Mou... Brother?"

Bankotsu waited as his tentative comrade moved toward him. He did not look to the dark-haired male, not even when Jakotsu so gingerly laid his hand upon the other mercenary's shoulder.

"Brother... Br---_Bankotsu_," he murmured, half in repetition. "He... he---"

"You told him that he was gorgeous, Jakotsu." Bankotsu's voice was soft, and he had adopted a far-away tone. "And you took special care to rip out his _heart_ and let him _see_ it."

Jakotsu flushed, just a bit. Coming from Bakotsu---who rarely watched him slay with such a close attention to details---that phrasing seemed to be less of a criticism and more of a compliment.

"So what's left, Jakotsu? What do I say?"

Bankotsu turned to face the man in pink, his face very somber. It was a side of him that Jakotsu did not see on a regular basis, and he almost felt compelled to stare. Not only that, he even drew his hands into his sleeves and curled his fingers around the fabric defensively, his weapon caught in the crook of his elbow.

"Mou," he mumbled. Like his companion, he had to think very carefully of what he wanted to say and how he ought to get it across. He knew he was keeping Bankotsu waiting, so he tried to think harder. Was there really anything that he could say now to calm his friend? After that showy job and then his constant boasting about it?

It was easy enough to say that he felt bad, but that didn't cut it. Jakotsu, still pouting childishly, truly did not know how to express the way he felt. How was he to apologize when he did not know what he could say?

It was a struggle, to say the least.

Just as he looked up, he met Bankotsu's sturdy, bland gaze. Any apology or consolation was lost, for Jakotsu's surprise at seeing that particular look on that well-known face had made him forget it all.

For a moment, it was very quiet. The only sound heard was the rasping of breath, and it would have taken Jakotsu time enough to figure out that _he_ was the one breathing hard. And why shouldn't he be? He'd just massacred the body of a man---albeit a near-perfect body---that resembled his friend better than he could have ever thought, and to double back on that, he'd called that man by so many _pet names_ that it was getting harder for him to differentiate. Oh, yes, he'd killed alluring men before, and it was with no doubt that he would do it again, but for this one to be so... _alike..._

He ignored the way that Bankotsu's eyes were boring into him and turned his gaze to the ground. Ah, and what lovely earth it was! So brown and made of dirt, really, it was a marvel to all earth anywhere, and---

Jakotsu thought no farther. He couldn't, actually. The man no more than opened his mouth---a rushed, breathless apology would have escaped, had he let it---but he simply couldn't, and not for just any reason, either.

Bankotsu had kissed him.

As amazed as he was, Jakotsu found that he could do nothing. Not even until Bankotsu stepped away from him, that same bland, curiously emotionless expression on his face. Jakotsu might have teased him for getting lipstick on his lips in another instance, but now, he could do nothing but touch his own lips and stare, very quietly, as it sunk in.

"Ah... Brother?"

The braided man looked down the road they were traveling, saying nothing. He turned his body away too, finally speaking in direct, calm tones.

"If we get a move on, we can make it to the next village before the next sunset." He looked back to his shocked friend, and Jakotsu saw then that while he'd been looking away, Bankotsu had apparently also wiped his lips clean. "Are you coming, Jakotsu?"

"Of course, Brother," he chirped, voice just a little too high. But the shock soon disappeared from his face as he tilted his head, looking to the reddening skies. "I'll always be right here, behind you, in everything."

Bankotsu offered a small smile. "Come. It won't be far."

Together their weapons lifted and they began to walk again, this time with Jakotsu taking a spot next to Bankotsu on the narrow pathway. He had said they would be together, he remembered, and rested his head on the other man's shoulder just slightly. Bankotsu gave him a small, welcoming look, before his attention moved to the road, and it made Jakotsu smile wickedly.

Together seemed far better this way. Even if his eyes were closed, he could be led onward in the right direction---and that was a feeling no mere, unfortunate dead man could stop.

Even _Bankotsu_ knew that.

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**FIN**

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A/N: I haven't written for InuYasha in over a year. I feel old and crinkly, and I think this is my first post in the fandom. o.O Huh. Imagine that…

---Gangsta Videl


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